Feathers and Flight

Chapter 8

                                                       We Missed Something

When the trio arrived back at the cave around sunset, I was pacing anxiously outside the tunnel waiting for them. I had been waiting around inside the cave until about fifteen minutes before they arrived, trying desperately to relax. When that had failed, I had decided to wait outside for them. The cool evening air helped to sooth my flaring anxiety and Fizzle kept flying down from the rocks above the tunnel to check on me like a small, blue, mother hen.

The three of them flew in a tight triangle formation, which I though was odd, but as soon as they landed I stopped pacing and began bombarding them with frantic questions that had been steadily building up for at least an hour. 

"Where have you guys been? Are you all OK? What did you find? What's going on? Will somebody say something??" My voice had risen and was bordering on the panicked side but they just stood there staring at me. The blood red sun shone in my face as I squinted at the three of them, trying to make out their expressions. Then something clicked, something I should have noticed when they had first landed.

None of them were breathing heavily.

Usually when we flew, it used a lot of physical strength and exertion to lift our weight which caused us to land out of breath and a little sweaty or tired. Not a single one of them was out of breath and when I looked closer, I saw . . . . were those guns on their hips?! I continued my scrutiny and none of them moved a muscle unless I did first.

"What's going on guys? How did the search go?" All I could think about was how weird they were acting and how to figure out what was going on. I didn't think my friends would hurt me but something in my gut told me that everything wasn't right with them. One of them finally spoke but Kallie's voice was flat, emotionless, and just plain creepy.

"You need to come with us, Selene." She offered her hand out to me but I made no move to take it. Then Jared spoke up in the same inflectionless voice Kallie had used and coming from him too sent shivers down my spine.

"Yes, come with us, we have something important to show you back at the orphanage." When I still didn't respond, I saw Jamie reach for the gun on her left hip. It was a sleek, black, DA, Smith and Wesson, military edition handgun and it gleamed dangerously in the fading sunlight.

"Hey now, no need to get violent, besides, you guys know why I cant, and wont, go with you." My voice was steady as I backed up a step but my hands trembled slightly when I held them up in front of me. When their faces didn't change, I knew something was very wrong with them. They couldn't seem to remember why I couldn't fly or what we had talked about earlier that day. What was going on?

Jamie finished freeing her gun and took a step towards me. I mirrored her by taking another step back and we continued like that until my back was inches from the rough stone wall bordering the entrance to the cave. Jared and Kallie now flanked Jamie and, strangely, it reminded me of a street gang. Something blue and fuzzy fluttered behind them and glided down to land lightly on my shoulder.

Fizzle was making frantic humming noises and gesturing wildly with his antennas at the three gang wanna-be's. I glanced at him and he kept gesturing but with renewed vigor when my eyes landed on him.

What's he trying to say? I know somethings wrong with them but what is getting him so worked up? As I was pondering the oddness of Fizz's  behavior, the other two had also retrieved their guns and as one, all three raised them to aim at me. Then Fizzle did something that surprised me and caused me to flinch a little. He opened up his right wing and positioned it right in front of my face. Through the colorful transparency of the soft membrane, I could see Jared, Kallie and Jamie pretty clearly. I nearly screamed.